Spring Topiary

"Every kick butt red toile chair needs a equally frugal topiary to stand beside it"

 Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ok...so he never really said that. Pretty sure he never said kick butt either. But this statement is completely and utterly true. 

So motivated by my own attention deficit project disorder, I have decided to make myself the cutest little topiary in the midwest. Not that I wouldn't love to shell out $49 for a Ballard topiary like this one here...(no...actually...I wouldn't!) 

So I've made mine for a whopping total of $9 dollars!

Granted: I did luck out by already owning the styrofoam ball, oh...and stick

But this is still a pretty cheapo project.

So here's how we do...

First I started with this

I actually purchased two of the boxwood plants and only used 2 strands from the second one. I think you could get away with just one plant if you stuck them in a little less densely. That was $6.99 (plan ahead and you could use a coupon and do even better!) The pot was $1.99 at Garden Ridge and I'm tempted to go back for another. The styrofoam ball was in my randomweird stash.

I also used this. River rocks from the stash and a stick. That I whittled. From the yard. (And the whole time I kept saying "may I please whittle wood with you now"...I'm probably the only person on earth that quotes Pauley Shore movies)

So I found it easier to cut a bunch of the sprigs off before you begin. You just move faster that way

Then start sticking them all over the styrofoam ball! (Leave a small hole for your stick too!)

This process took a while but it did have some calming therapeutic effect on me. Kind of like bubble wrap.

Keep going....

Even when you stop half way through to make dinner, it still looks cute!

Then I placed the rocks around my stick to hold it upright. I guess if I cared enough to, I could hot glue it in as well. I did put a bit of hot glue on the tip before I pushed it into the styrofoam ball.

Then jam it in (ha...I'm so not the fancy craft tutorial girl!)

And admire her beauty. Then thank Ralph Waldo Emerson for his words of wisdom...

My theory is if you put enough springy stuff around your house, it'll make Spring come faster. But then again, I almost hit a robin this morning so I'd hate to see what that'd do to Spring!

Gotta share this with my girls!